I don’t like doof. I don’t like how its manufacturers try to make it resemble food, especially for kids, like in the first example. Look at the ingredients for what they call “banana” yogurt. Banana is the third ingredient. Sugar is the second. Shouldn’t it be called “sugar” yogurt then? Most would-be fruit yogurts contain more sugar than fruit. I suggest we call them all sugar yogurt. Here are other[…] Keep reading →

We became biologically human about 300,000 years ago. For all that time until about 10,000 years ago, our ancestors drank milk as infants, then only water for the rest of their lives. Historians and anthropologists speculate that honey wine became the first non-water beverage our ancestors drank, possibly predating cultivating plants. By my childhood, the market provided plenty of beverages—including milk varieties, wines, beers, other alcohols, fruit juices, and sodas.[…] Keep reading →

The physical and mental experience Physically, I loved the experience of yesterday’s ride, grueling as I found it, because I wanted to give up so many times. I lifted weights two days before and did some Turkish Get-ups (an all-over lifting exercise that includes lunges) the day before, which resulted in being unable to get out of the bike’s lowest gear for many hills toward the end. I probably spent[…] Keep reading →

I’ve meant for years to post to solicit questions from readers. You know you have questions about something I cover—burpees, leadership, entrepreneurship, education, stewardship, swimming across the Hudson River, posting daily, etc. Contact me here. When I meet people in person or email one-on-one, people say they’ve wanted to know something about me or what I write. I’ll keep names discrete if requested.

Chelsea Behrens created a community on Corporate Career Courage: how to be a catalyst for change, a champion for diversity, and thrive as a leader. She interviewed me and posted the video. We covered a range of leadership topics and stories. She went from having done no burpees to 66 days in a row and counting! Watch the video Show notes Interview with Joshua Spodek Josh Spodek is a leader[…] Keep reading →

The Let’s Reach Success blog posted today an interview its host, Lidiya K, did with me, entitled How to Write an Amazon Bestseller, Become a TEDx Speaker and Host an Award-Winning Podcast. As you can tell from the title, she covered the books, podcast, and TEDx talks—a comprehensive interview. About Lidiya: Lidiya K I’m a full-time blogger, lifestyle designer and the founder of Let’s Reach Success. Join me to learn[…] Keep reading →

People fear social media. They see what it does to relationships and communities. Next time you see people say something on social media self-righteous, mean, condemning, etc about someone you know or at least know of, ask if the people are gossiping — except instead of over the backyard fence in private, to the world in public, which responds in kind. All cultures gossip, I hear. Evolutionary psychology tells us[…] Keep reading →

One of my main goals for this podcast is to bring people who love acting on one’s environmental values, seeing stewardship not as an obligation but as being a part of something greater than yourself, than any of us, benefiting everyone, and yourself. As you’ll hear, Tia’s roots precede the first Earth Day. Her father started it. Despite so many problems remaining — basically all of them — she’s the[…] Keep reading →

Learning that humans only recently developed the concept of extinction. Much of the West, for example, believed in a Great Chain of Being, spontaneous generation, and a biblical flood. That perspective suggests that many past behaviors we consider unconscionable may have seemed even humane then, like walking up to a rhinoceros and shooting it in the head. If you can’t imagine it going extinct because new ones will form, how[…] Keep reading →